A strategic meeting was held Tuesday by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, former Chief Security Officer of the late General Sani Abacha Hamza Al Mustapha, Social Democratic Party (SDP) Chairman Shehu Gabam, and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain Segun Sowunmi.
The four convened to assess Nigeria’s opposition’s level of democratic engagement.
Posting on X, Sowunmi wrote: “You must set forth at Dawn, a strategic meeting called by HE Shehu Gabam, Chairman of SDP, with HE @elrufai, El-Rufai, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, Otunba Segun Sowunmi.
“The alternative, to meet and greet and review the state of opposition democratic engagement in Nigeria.”
This follows El-Rufai’s denial of reports that he had switched from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP.
El-Rufai was rumoured to be considering defecting to the PDP.
But the former governor answered: “Please disregard the patent lies and rumours about my political affiliation. I have referred the leading peddlers of the fake news for further action by my lawyers.”
Daniel Bwala, the presidential spokesperson, had stated in 2022 that El-Rufai will switch to the PDP prior to the general election in 2023.
The claim was also rejected by El-Rufai, who replied on X: “Thanks @BwalaDaniel but no, thanks. Never ever, not even my corpse will be found in the vicinity of your newfound political party. I still dey laugh.”
According to Shehu Gabam, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), there has been no formal announcement on the membership of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s associates or former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
Gabam’s statement follows a strategic discussion with El-Rufai, Segun Sowunmi, and Hamza Al-Mustapha to assess the level of opposition democratic engagement in Nigeria.
The SDP Secretariat in Abuja served as the venue for the private meeting.
Regarding the meeting, Gabam stated that he was open to discussions focused on improving Nigeria.
Addressing journalists, he said: “There is no official statement from El-Rufai or any one of them about officially joining the SDP. As I said, they are open to conversation and negotiations for a better Nigeria. It’s not about a political party; it’s about the future of Nigeria.
“We are looking for like-minded people who believe in the future of the country so that we can work together and uplift the individual standard of Nigeria.
“It’s not just them. The attention of the media only went to them. I have received a lot of dignitaries from different political parties in the office, discussing the way forward, how to stabilize the country, and how to offer productive, progressive advice to this government so that there will not be a crisis.
“Because once the government has a crisis, it affects every Nigerian. So, part of our responsibilities is to make sure we are not facing a crisis.
“There is an ongoing conversation. When the time comes, we will arrive at a conclusion, and we will hold an official press conference.
“Once we agree on what we are going to do together, we will unveil it to all Nigerians. But at the preliminary stage, we are having our own social gatherings and discussing national issues.
“So, principally, that’s what we are doing. More like-minded people are already on board. So today, there are other heavyweights involved, with whom we are discussing.”
There have been allegations recently that El-Rufai defected from the APC to the PDP.
The former governor responded by telling the public to ignore the falsehoods and rumours regarding his political membership.
Posting on X, El-Rufai wrote: “Please disregard the patent lies and rumors about my political affiliation. I have referred the lead peddlers of the fake news for further action by my lawyers.”
He said that he has directed the main propagandists of the false information to his solicitors for possible legal action.
Daniel Bwala, the presidential spokesperson, had predicted in 2022 that El-Rufai would defect to the PDP prior to the general election in 2023.
El-Rufai declared that not even his body would be seen near the PDP, dismissing the report as a laughing stock.
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